Auburn hires Buffalo's Allen Greene as athletic director

AUBURN, AL – NOVEMBER 13: A general view of Jordan-Hare Stadium during the game between the Auburn Tigers and the Georgia Bulldogs on November 13, 2010 in Auburn, Alabama. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Auburn has found its replacement for departing athletic director Jay Jacobs. The school announced Thursday it has hired Buffalo athletic director Allen Greene.

“Allen kicks off the next exciting chapter for Auburn Athletics,” said Auburn President Steven Leath. “In our interviews and due diligence learning all we could about him, it became overwhelmingly clear that Allen has the right combination of leadership, enthusiasm, experience and management to lead Auburn Athletics to success well into the future.”

Please join us in welcoming @AGreeneIV to the Auburn Family as our new Director of Athletics.

Greene has been Buffalo’s athletic director since 2015. He took over the athletic department from Danny White, who left to be the athletic director at Central Florida. You may be familiar with White because of his efforts to brand UCF as the nation’s national champions after an undefeated 13-0 season.

“Serving Auburn University as Director of Athletics is a tremendous honor and an awesome responsibility,” Greene said. “Time-honored traditions have helped create a culture of success at Auburn that is incredibly rare. I am humbled that President Leath and the Search Committee entrust me to maintain all that is uniquely Auburn and utilize that foundation to forge a path to even greater heights. Whether in the classroom or on the fields and courts of play, these lofty expectations are embraced, and I am eager to get to work for the Auburn Family.”

Greene came to Buffalo after four-plus years working in Mississippi’s athletic department. According to Buffalo’s website, “a hallmark of Greene’s tenure is the soon-to-be constructed $18M indoor practice facility that has been on the docket for nearly two decades.” He played baseball while at school at Notre Dame and was a minor league outfielder for the New York Yankees for four seasons.